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LAWRENCE — The Kansas Early Childhood Advisory Council and Kansas Project LAUNCH have awarded $40,000 in mini-grants to communities to promote technology designed to provide mothers quick access to essential health information. Communities will use the funding to develop public awareness strategies to increase enrollment in Text4baby, a free mobile information service designed to promote mother and child health. Women who sign up for the service by texting BABY to 511411 (or BEBE in Spanish) receive free text messages each week, timed to their due date or baby’s date of birth.

Thirty-two programs serving 54 Kansas counties received funding from the grants. Public awareness strategies implemented with the funds may include local radio or television public service announcements, printed materials, movie advertisements, promotional materials, community baby showers or health fairs.

Text4baby, an educational program of the National Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies Coalition, provides pregnant women and new moms with information to help them care for their health and give their babies the best possible start in life. Text4baby is effective because it gets essential health information to mothers in need quickly and easily using a technology they use regularly.

Kansas is participating in the 2013 national Text4baby State Enrollment Contest. Organizers hope to get as many Kansas women as possible to sign up for the service. For more information about the campaign, visit https://text4baby.org/.

The state of Kansas contracts with the University of Kansas Center for Public Partnerships and Research to provide project management for the Early Childhood Advisory Council and Kansas Project LAUNCH.

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